A-Level General Paper 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the 'digital divide'?
- The gap between people who own digital devices and those who don't
- The disparity between those with access to modern technology and the internet and those without, often related to income and geography (Correct answer)
- The difference between digital and analogue signals
- The gap between online and offline retail
Correct answer: The disparity between those with access to modern technology and the internet and those without, often related to income and geography
The digital divide refers to the socioeconomic gap between those who have access to digital technologies (internet, devices) and those who do not, often along lines of income, education, age, and location.
Question 2: What is the argument for freedom of the press?
- Media should be controlled by governments
- A free press acts as a watchdog on power, ensuring accountability, providing accurate information, and protecting democratic values (Correct answer)
- Media should be owned by corporations only
- All information should be freely available online
Correct answer: A free press acts as a watchdog on power, ensuring accountability, providing accurate information, and protecting democratic values
A free press holds governments and institutions accountable, investigates wrongdoing, informs citizens, and facilitates democratic participation. John Stuart Mill's marketplace of ideas supports press freedom.
Question 3: What is 'soft power' in international relations?
- Military strength that is not used
- The ability to influence other countries through attraction and persuasion (culture, values, diplomacy) rather than coercion (Correct answer)
- Economic sanctions
- Trade agreements
Correct answer: The ability to influence other countries through attraction and persuasion (culture, values, diplomacy) rather than coercion
Soft power (Joseph Nye) is the ability to shape others' preferences through attraction rather than coercion — through a country's culture, political values, and foreign policies seen as legitimate.
Question 4: What does 'meritocracy' mean in the context of social mobility?
- The wealthy always succeed
- A system where advancement is based on individual merit — talent, effort, and achievement — regardless of background (Correct answer)
- Only people born into wealthy families succeed
- Education guarantees success
Correct answer: A system where advancement is based on individual merit — talent, effort, and achievement — regardless of background
Meritocracy holds that people advance based on their abilities and efforts. In the GP context, students debate whether Singapore's meritocracy is truly fair or whether structural inequalities persist.
Question 5: What is the main argument against capital punishment?
- It is too expensive
- It is irreversible, has no proven deterrent effect, risks executing the innocent, and constitutes a violation of the right to life (Correct answer)
- It takes too long to implement
- Criminals prefer imprisonment
Correct answer: It is irreversible, has no proven deterrent effect, risks executing the innocent, and constitutes a violation of the right to life
Key arguments against capital punishment include: irreversibility (executing innocent people is possible), lack of proven deterrent effect, the moral argument that the state should not take a life, and disproportionate application.
Question 6: What does 'climate justice' mean?
- Legal punishment for polluters only
- The recognition that climate change disproportionately affects poorer, less developed nations that have contributed least to emissions (Correct answer)
- Environmental regulation in developed nations only
- Reducing carbon emissions globally
Correct answer: The recognition that climate change disproportionately affects poorer, less developed nations that have contributed least to emissions
Climate justice addresses the inequity that developing nations (least responsible for historical emissions) suffer the worst climate impacts, demanding that richer nations take greater responsibility and support adaptation.
A-Level General Paper 2
What is the 'digital divide'?